ONTARIO, Calif., Oct. 30, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Prime Healthcare Services announced today that 11 of its hospitals were named Top Performer on Key Quality Measures® by The Joint Commission, the leading accreditor of health care organizations in nation.

The hospitals were recognized for exemplary performance in using evidence-based clinical processes that are shown to improve care for certain conditions. The clinical processes focus on care for heart attack, pneumonia, surgery, children's asthma, stroke and venous thromboembolism, as well as inpatient psychiatric services. New this year is a category for immunization for pneumonia and influenza.

"Prime Healthcare is physician-driven and patient-focused system, concentrating heavily on quality of patient care," said Prem Reddy, M.D., FACC, FCCP, Chairman, President and CEO of Prime Healthcare Services. "This is well deserved recognition of the physicians, nurses and staffs at these hospitals who maintain the highest standards of quality care in the country."

The 11 hospitals are among the 1,099 hospitals in the U.S. earning the distinction of Top Performer on Key Quality Measures for attaining and sustaining excellence in accountability measure performance. The ratings are based on an aggregation of accountability measure data reported to The Joint Commission during the 2012 calendar year.

"All the Top Performer hospitals have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to quality improvement and they should be proud of their achievement," said Mark R. Chassin, M.D., FACP, M.P.P., M.P.H., president and chief executive officer, The Joint Commission.

Each of the hospitals that were named as a Top Performer on Key Quality Measures must: 1) achieve cumulative performance of 95 percent or above across all reported accountability measures; 2) achieve performance of 95 percent or above on each and every reported accountability measure where there are at least 30 denominator cases; and 3) have at least one core measure set that has a composite rate of 95 percent or above, and within that measure set all applicable individual accountability measures have a performance rate of 95 percent or above.

Ontario, CA-based Prime Healthcare Services (www.primehealthcare.com), with a motto of "Saving Hospitals, Saving Jobs and Saving Lives," is one of the largest hospital companies in the nation.

Prime Healthcare was recognized as one of the "15 Top Health Systems" in the nation in 2013, based on quality of healthcare and patient satisfaction. It is the third time in five years it has been recognized. In 2013, eight Prime Healthcare hospitals were ranked among the "100 Top Hospitals" in the nation by Truven Health Analytics (formerly Thomson Reuters). Prime Healthcare hospitals have earned the award 21 times. In addition, 11 Prime Healthcare hospitals earned national recognition as "Top Performer on Key Quality Measures" in 2013 from The Joint Commission, the leading Medicare accreditation organization in the country.